Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865 news of the emancipation proclamation reached Texas two and a half years after it was signed, thus establishing Juneteenth, or as some would say Freedom Day. Juneteenth is an acknowledgment of the USA's participation in slavery and has served as a day to honor the enslaved Africans.

In 2021, Juneteenth became a federal holiday, but for many years African Americans in Fort Worth, Texas and many other communities celebrated the holiday with parades, parties, and community-based activism rooted in the preservation of African American culture and history.

Summer is upon us and the DC Public Library wants you to join us for summer learning. What better way than to start it off by exploring our nation's history? Celebrate Juneteenth with us. Stop by your neighborhood library to pick up a book, attend an event, or explore our online resources. While you're at it, register for Discover Summer! The Discover Summer program is for all ages and lasts from June 3 to Aug. 31, 2023. Learning with the library this summer will give you access to free events, library days at local museums, and many different prizes. We hope to see you. Happy Juneteenth!

Sign Up for Discover Summer

Visit your neighborhood library to pick up a paper gameboard or sign up online using Beanstack starting on June 1. (If you've participated in any of the Library's reading programs in the past, you can log in to your existing account with your username and password.) The program officially starts June 3 and ends August 31.

Register for Discover Summer

Special Events

Giovanni's Room

Tuesday, June 18, 6 p.m. | Bellevue/William O. Lockridge Library

Explore themes of Home, Love and Identity by celebrating the 100th Anniversary of James Baldwin whose fiction posed fundamental personal questions and dilemmas in a complex society pressured by unpredictable psychological conditions.

Author Talk: Deesha Dyer's Undiplomatic

Tuesday, June 18, 7 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Deesha Dyer, a former White House social secretary for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, shares her inspiring journey of self-discovery in her book, Undiplomatic. She recounts how, as a hip-hop journalist and community leader, she overcame imposter syndrome to land one of the most exclusive positions in the White House.

The Rise and Fall of The Freedman's Savings Bank book cover

The Rise and Fall of The Freedman's Savings Bank: Author Talk with Rodney A. Brooks

Saturday, June 22, 2 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Join author and journalist Rodney A. Brooks for a discussion on his new book The Rise and Fall of The Freedman's Savings Bank. The bank, created after the Civil War, was supposed to help Black people newly freed from slavery build wealth and gain financial acumen. But those former slaves lost everything when the bank collapsed less than a decade later under the weight of corruption and deception by its all white, all male board, incompetence and an international financial crisis.

Nikole Hannah-Jones discusses The 1619 Project

Sunday, June 23, 3 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Come to the MLK Library to welcome back Putlizer Prize winner & New York Times Bestselling author Nikole Hannah-Jones as we celebrate the paperback release of The 1619 Project.

See All Juneteenth Events

Juneteenth Resources

Juneteenth Archives

Explore everything DigDC, DC Public Library's local history digital archive, has to offer on Juneteenths past in Washington D.C. See images from the 2022 Juneteenth event in downtown D.C., newspaper clippings commemorating the survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and so much more.

African American Experience

Find reference and scholarly articles on African American history and culture, as well as over 4,000 slave narratives. Includes primary documents, maps and images, lesson plans and searchable timelines.

Ancestry Library Edition

Answers await everyone—whether professional or hobbyist, expert or novice, genealogist or historian—inside the more than 7,000 available databases. Here, you can unlock the story of you with sources like censuses, vital records, immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, directories, photos, maps & more.